Category Archives: Pie & Other Pastries

This past Mother’s Day I was trying something different for my step-mom while working on using up the last of the mini marshmallows from class before they dry out. I also wanted them to disappear not just be extra lumps of sugar. Ruth likes mocha, a combination of hot coffee and chocolate with whipped cream […]

I have been trying to get to this post for several days and it was just not working. I am going to sit here until it is finished as I had promised a suggestion for the Seville Orange Whiskey Curd posted last month and since tomorrow is Pi Day, it seemed like perfect timing. Let’s […]

Lemon Curd is by far the most well known variety of this heavenly filling. Christmas dinner was never complete for my father without a cold from the fridge spoonful of lemon curd inside a freshly warmed tart shell. Before Seville orange season comes to an end, I wanted to share a different option with a […]

I am teaching a cheese making class the day after tomorrow. There are several tasty cheeses we can get through in three hours but a cream cheese with rennet is not one of them. The 14 hour wait time before dripping for several hours more is the issue. The solution was to make up a […]

Apple pie is such a standard item in North American baking. For some it is a fall preserving job that uses up culls. Six or sixteen pies packed away in a freezer somewhere until needed. For others it is something to leave entirely up to bakeries to prepare. There are really just two things that […]

Pâte à Choux has been around since the middle of the 1800’s and although no one is really sure it is thought they originated within the royal kitchens of the French monarchy. I tend to think that makes sense as the first ones I made were turned into swans with long elegant necks and wings. […]

There are times when celery sticks just don’t hit the spot, especially during the dark half of the year. Your personal favourite may be hot chocolate or homemade mac and cheese. If your tooth leans to the sweet side then this apple dumpling with a brown sugar, cardamon, apple cider vinegar caramel sauce may do […]

Sometimes the ingredients chosen for a recipe are not always what we might naturally graviate towards. Cinnamon is more common than straight nutmeg as a spice in apple dishes. Sage is not often added to something sweet. This tart is such a dish. It contains four of the flavours associated specifically with Samhain and was […]

Handpies are freeform pastries smaller than a galette with a top cover, meant as a single serving, much like a turnover which around here is made with puff pastry. They can be packed with sweet or savoury goodness and are a great way to use up leftovers. Think of them as a portable meal with […]

The flavour combination of chocolate and hazelnuts was popular centuries before Nutella. In the 1800’s, in Turin, Italy, there were many hazelnut orchards and cocoa was expensive and difficult to get. Combining hazelnut paste and cocoa produced a product known as gianduja (pronounced “john-doo-yah”). This soft smooth chocolatey confection was a hit and has stayed […]